📝 55th Spells8 Book Club - Readers' Reviews!

[MeganB]

Feel free to share your finished thoughts and reviews from the book you read for the 55th book club here. For the current book club post, please visit the new session post: Spells8 56th Book Club 📚 January 2026

A warm welcome to all of the Witchy Readers!

The latest reading period for Spells8 55th Book Club 📚 December 2025 has now ended - thank you to everyone who joined in!

Members & Their Books This Reading Period:

• The Shadow Witch’s Grimoire by Raven Digitalis (shelved - will read later)
  @MeganB

• Empath and Psychic Abilities for Beginners by Alyssa Vera
  @MeganB

• Have a Cool Yule! (How to Survive and Enjoy the Mid-Winter Festival) by Melusine Draco
  @Amethyst

• A Druid Path by John Michael Greer
  @Eira_of_the_Living_Hearth

• Strange Experience: The Autobiography of a Hexenmeister by Lee R. Gandee
  @DerBraucher

Even if you are not listed above but you read a book during this reading period or you decided to read a different book than listed, you are very welcome to share and discuss here too!

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Time to share your thoughts with your coven!

This discussion post will serve as a place to share your thoughts and opinions on the book you chose.

• If you loved your book and think everyone should read it - awesome! Talk about your favorite points or something you learned.
• If you didn’t connect with the book - consider explaining why it wasn’t for you.
• Absolutely hated your book of choice? Warn others to stay away!

This is a great place to share your love for books and find recommendations for new books to read

Your book review can be as simple or elaborate as you’d like

If you’re not sure what to talk about, here is a suggested format you can use. Feel free to write as little or as much as you’d like!

Book Title and Author:

Status? : Finished / Still Reading

My overall rating of the book : ???/10

How does this book relate to my magickal practice?:

My personal thoughts/opinions:

An interesting quote from the book: " "

All in all, would I recommend this book?: Yes / No

Remember that your review is uniquely yours - this is a chance to let your opinions and voice be heard

Please keep in mind that others may have opinions that differ from yours - when responding to the thoughts of others, please always show respect! Remember that 100 people will read 1 book and have 100 different experiences. That’s what makes sharing interesting

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What if I didn’t finish my book / joined late?

No worries!

You are welcome to share your thoughts about the part you have read so far. If you joined the session late and have just started, feel free to talk about your expectations for your book. You can continue reading it into the next reading period.

And whether you read a book or not, you are very welcome to jump in and discuss what others share about their books!

Deadlines and Dates

You have all month to share your thoughts and discuss (until the next Readers’ Review Post appears in the forum!)

Deadline for Reviews for this Session: January 31, 2025

While you have plenty of time for reviews, know that the next reading period has already started!
→Spells8 56th Book Club 📚 January 2026

You can find more info about the club in the Book Club FAQ.

It can be hard to find the time and motivation to read on your own – hopefully book club helped provide a bit of motivation and that it led to some wonderful new knowledge and discoveries in your Craft

I hope you enjoyed your books this session, and that you’ve got another fun one in line to read this coming month.

Happy reading and blessed be!

[Amethyst]

Book Title and Author: Have A Cool Yule by Melusine Draco

Status? : Finished

My overall rating of the book : 7/10

How does this book relate to my magickal practice?: I was hoping to learn more about dealing with stress during the holiday season.

My personal thoughts/opinions: This was an okay book. It didn’t have a lot of rituals, spells, or things like that. They went over the basics of Yule, the different days that were special, things like that, and stressed having a schedule. They were a bit dismissive of the importance of family in a few bits, mostly they were like, if your parents have passed, then you don’t have to worry about celebrating with your siblings and other family. On one hand I can understand that, and on the other hand it upset me. So I’m not sure about that.

They did have good ideas about how to combine Yule and Christmas, so that was nice! Still, the book was a bit disappointing. Not what I’d thought it would be. Oh, and the author is British, so it took me a moment to remember that a bundle of twigs and branches is called a ■■■■■■ over there.

An interesting quote from the book: “Pagans will have made their own provisions for the coming mid-winter celebration to welcome back the Sun-King and among these can be an alternative ash-■■■■■■, made up of ash twigs, to be burned to ensure good fortune.

A miniature ■■■■■■ can be kept in the house for good luck. Like a lot of magical customs, the Yule log must not be bought. The hearth fire is the symbolic and magical centre of any pagan home, and it is to the hearth we bring the richness of nature’s bounty to help celebrate the old festivals and feast days.

Next to the Harvest Home, perhaps the Mid-Winter Festival is the most important festival in the pagan calendar so start scavenging for your Yule log – even if it’s only a mini ash-■■■■■■ for the patio burner! And make sure it is seasoned dry wood to prevent smoking. The Yule log should sit in the hearth until the Winter Solstice, decorated with sprigs of holly.”

Draco, Melusine. Pagan Portals - Have a Cool Yule: How-To Survive (and Enjoy) the Mid-Winter Festival (p. 18). Moon Books. Kindle Edition.

All in all, would I recommend this book?: Maybe, it depends on what you are looking for. Yule: A Celebration of Light and Warmth by Dorothy Morrison had much of the same information and was a better book, in my opinion.

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Mod Note: The word that is censored is used as a slur and insult in the United States. Though it is used to mean something else in the UK, it gets auto-censored by the forum here. Though I can’t un-censor the word, you can click here to go to the Wikipedia page for the word to see what it is.

[DerBraucher]

Book title and author: Strange Experience: The Autobiography of a Hexenmeister by Lee R. Gandee

Status: Finished

My overall rating of the book: 8/10

How does this book relate to my magical practice?

As a Braucher/Hexenmeister myself, this book provides insight into a practicing Hexenmeister’s life and practices. Through hearing about the life experience of Gandee, I have been able to see several parallels between his life and mine, and getting to hear how his life experiences shaped his philosophy and practice was interesting to me.

My personal thoughts/opinions

First and foremost, I need to point out that this book requires some trigger/content warnings. The author was from a time and culture where terminology and the way things such as race, sexuality, gender, ability status, etc. were discussed in very different ways. The author even at one point states that his family was on the side of the Confederacy during the American Civil War – that statement alone gives an indication as to how certain things are discussed. However, I can assume that, given some of the life experiences of the author in re: race, gender expression, sexuality, ability status, etc., he is not necessarily antagonistic toward any historically “othered” groups. Just make sure to approach the book and its wording with caution and a grain of salt.

Another caveat to keep in mind is that the practice of Braucherei is rooted in Christianity. (See my post on an overview of Braucherei for more information.)

Yet another caveat to keep in mind is that of terminology used to describe the practice of Braucherei within this book. Gandee often uses the term “Hex” as a label for himself. From my research and everything else I’ve read, the term “Hex” was used by descendants of German-speaking immigrants in a pejorative way – it had the same connotation in the local German dialects as the term “witch” in the English language throughout history. Gandee didn’t explicitly discuss his use of the term “Hex,” but from my reading, it felt like it may have been used to reclaim the power the way people choose to identify as a witch today to take the power back from those who use it in a pejorative manner. Technically speaking, Gandee was a “Hexenmeister,” as that term, although still viewed with skepticism by German-speaking peoples in America due to the nature of the practice, was not viewed in a purely pejorative light as with the term “Hex.”

This book was very different from my initial expectations of what I thought it was going to be like. The autobiographies I have read in the past have been fairly linear retellings of the accounts of one’s life. This autobiography was about as far from a linear retelling of one’s life as one could possibly get. It jumped around in time so much that I had a difficult time following. Gandee’s view was that he had memories of some of his past lives, so the timeframe covered spanned several thousand years.

At times, the writing itself was difficult to understand as well. At points, I was wondering if the segments were written under the influence of mind-altering substances. I consider my comprehension to be pretty good, but at times, I was like, “I have literally no idea what’s trying to be said – I’ll just move on…”

This is definitely not a “how to” manual. There are brief explanations of workings throughout the book, but the main focus is on the life of the author – which I suppose is reasonable, given that this book is an autobiography and not an instruction manual… lol

An interesting quote from the book:

“Well, you may not be any more than a speck of dust in a corn field, but you are conscious of something forty light-years away. Think about yourself as a being whose consciousness can reach out to something that distant, and recognize it, and give it a name, and when you wish go back and locate it in something vastly bigger.” (page 94)

“This God is unto each man what that man believes God to be.” (page 111)

“When I saw that even atheists may have Puritan standards as to right and wrong, I began to wonder what unique value religion has. Its practical values seemed to come from psychology, and its helpful effects in controlling behavior, as well as better or worse from ethics or philosophy. All that seemed left was worship, and I found that very difficult in churches. They are not big enough to inspire awe, or beautiful enough to inspire reverence, or quiet enough for meditation. More and more, I became interested in magic, more and more in the God in Nature, less and less in churchly religion.” (page 116)

“Any condition resulting from belief in witchcraft is apparently beyond the reach of ordinary medicine – and beyond the reach of ordinary religious faith, because anyone with enough faith to break a spell is not subject to a spell in the first place. Breaking a spell is as formidable a task as a Hexenmeister ever needs to undertake, so if one is to undertake it, he must do everything possible to create the illusion that he is a Hexenmeister.” (page 322)

All-in-all, would I recommend this book?

I have very mixed feelings about whether I would recommend this book. Overall, I would not necessarily recommend it to anyone who doesn’t have a strong interest in Braucherei. It is a very heavy (literature-wise and emotionally) read, and not something I would recommend to what I call “an armchair practitioner.” To be honest, I don’t know if it’s worth the time to read for most people. However, if you have a strong interest in the practice of Braucherei and Hexenmeister work, then I would recommend it, with reservation. It is a fascinating read, but because the book is out of print, it is very difficult and expensive to procure, and I do not condone the use of pirated versions that can be found online.

[Eira_of_the_Living_Hearth]

**Eira_of_the_Living_Hearth**Witch of Many Talents

6d

Book Title and Author: A Druid Path by John Michael Greer

Status? Finished

My overall rating of the book: 8/10

Pros

• Grounded, calm, and practical approach to spirituality

• Encourages personal experience over belief

• Flexible and inclusive of blended paths and ancestry

• Strengthens daily practice, not just ritual moments

• Excellent framework for nature-based magick and divination

Cons

• Very gentle pace—can feel slow if you want dramatic ritual work

• Less mythic storytelling than some may expect

• Assumes patience and long-term commitment

• Readers wanting strict spell formulas may feel underwhelmed

How does this book relate to my magickal practice?

This book strengthened my magick by slowing it down and rooting it deeper. It helped me move away from performing spells or divination in isolation and instead see my tarot, runes, ancestor work, and seasonal rituals as part of an ongoing relationship with place, body, emotion, and spirit. The Three Realms framework sharpened how I interpret energy—grounding my work (Land), honoring intuition and shadow (Sea), and clarifying intention and insight (Sky). The Druid path mirrors the balance I already seek between creativity, healing, and wisdom, while Greer’s emphasis on discipline and observation gave my practice more steadiness and less pressure to “get it right.” This book didn’t change my path—it gave it bones.

My personal thoughts/opinions:

By the time I finished A Druid Path, I realized this book didn’t try to make me believe anything new. Instead, it quietly taught me how to pay attention. Greer walks me through modern Druidry not as a fixed religion or fantasy reconstruction, but as a practical, living path rooted in awareness, balance, and relationship with the world around me. As the chapters unfold, I’m guided from curiosity into practice—learning how observation, seasonal rhythm, meditation, ritual structure, ethics, and symbolism all weave together into a grounded spiritual life.

What stood out most was how much responsibility the path places back in my hands. There’s no hierarchy demanding devotion, no dogma insisting on certainty. Druidry here is experiential. I’m encouraged to watch the land where I live, track cycles, work with the Three Realms of Land, Sea, and Sky, and slowly develop a personal spiritual discipline shaped by consistency rather than intensity. By the end of the book, Druidry feels less like something I do occasionally and more like a lens through which I live, notice, and engage the world.

An interesting quote from the book:

“Druidry is a path of practice rather than belief; its truths are found by walking it.”
— John Michael Greer, A Druid Path

All in all, would I recommend this book? Yes